This invention relates to a container for a plant, and more specifically to a pot that can be extended to increase its volume and height.
Plants are grown in containers for many reasons, including the desire to be able to move the plant around easily and to grow plants indoors or where no open soil is available. Until plastic became a favored material for plant containers, plants were usually potted in ceramic containers of circular cross-section that were considerably smaller at the bottom than at the top. Due to the fairly thick walls of the clay pots, a substantial taper was needed to allow pots to be stacked when empty.
Today, commercial nurseries typically grow and sell plants potted in round or square plastic containers that are only slightly smaller at the bottom than at the top, since the plastic containers need not be as thick as clay.
A person growing a plant at home, whether outside or inside the house, often prefers to pot the plant in a decorative container. Since the home gardener does not need to stock large quantities of uniform containers, pots for home use may be of any shape or material. Pots used outdoors are still often clay, wood, or other traditional materials.
Plastic is becoming the preferred material for pots used inside the house, due to its impermeability to water and light weight. Plastic pots with water-catching saucers or internal drainage means can be kept very clean on the outside and are unlikely to cause damage to furnishings due to water, soil, or decomposition of the pot itself.
Many decorative plastic pots for home use are still designed with a tapering shape to resemble traditional clay pots. Such tapered pots have two main disadvantages: they hold less soil than a non-tapered pot, and they encourage the roots to converge toward the center of the pot and become a tangled mass. When a plant with a dense tangle of roots is transplanted to a larger pot, the roots often do not spread out and the plant stays stunted. Thus, tapered sides give a pot a traditional appearance, but are not the best for the plant""s health.
Thin plastic pots can be made with nearly straight sides, which is healthier for the roots. A pot that is larger at the bottom than at the top is even better for the plant, but is more difficult to make and to transplant a plant out of. When a plant grows too large for its pot, it is taken out of that pot and transplanted into a larger one, with additional soil.
It can be difficult to maintain the proper soil moisture for potted plants. The top of the soil tends to be too dry and the bottom tends to be too wet. To help maintain a proper balance, it is recommended that plants be transplanted into a pot that is only slightly wider than the one it was in, such that there is a gap of no greater than one inch between the root ball and the wall of the new pot.
People who don""t have large yards, especially those who live in apartments, are reluctant to transplant their houseplants because of the mess that can result from removing the plant from its pot. This reluctance can cause them to wait too long before transplanting, or to buy a pot that is excessively large so that they don""t have to re-transplant, which may result in root rot.
Hence, there is a need for a pot that makes it possible to give a plant a larger pot without making a mess. This need is partly met by the Collapsible Plant Container of Davidson (U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,167). Davidson discloses a pot that has segmented sides that slide up to form a pot and collapse to allow easier transplanting. However, it is still necessary to transfer the plant to a different pot. The segments of the Davidson pot overlap on the exterior of the pot, leading to three potential problems. First, the Davidson pot is smaller at the bottom than at the top, which leads to the root problems discussed above. Second, when the pot is in any configuration except the most fully extended, there are exposed gaps between the segments that will collect moisture and debris, which will nurture insects and mold. Third, because each segment has a larger diameter the one it overlays, there is potential for leakage of water and dirt through the joints. Davidson discloses locking means that xe2x80x9cfunctions as a positive water or liquid seal for the containerxe2x80x9d; however, this seal could fail if the pot has been mechanically damaged or if the locking means has soil interfering with the tight fit needed.
There is a need for a pot for houseplants that will not create mess or damage in the house, even when the plant requires a larger pot. There is a further need for a pot that has maximal soil volume for its width and that discourages rootbinding. There is a need for a pot that is expandable, so that a person does not need to find a new pot of the correct size, or store an empty one. There is still further a need for such a pot to be inexpensive and simple to manufacture.
This invention is an extendable flower pot, comprising a bottom pot with an extra section of wall, or upper barrel, nested inside. The upper barrel is telescoped inside the bottom pot when a plant is initially planted in the flower pot. From the outside the telescoped flower pot appears to be a standard decorative flower pot.
After the plant has grown and needs additional room for its roots, the extra section, or upper barrel, is pulled upward. The root ball of the plant is left at its original level and the upper barrel is pulled up around it. Additional potting soil is added to the top of the upper barrel. The plant will sprout new roots along the buried part of its stem.
Alternatively, the plant may be lifted along with the upper barrel by supporting its stem. Additional potting soil is added to the top of the upper barrel and gently shaken into place below and around the root ball of the plant. The plant now has a volume of fresh soil under its existing root ball. Because the bottom pot is slightly wider than the upper barrel, the roots spread both downward and outward into the fresh soil. The roots are not encouraged to form a dense mass toward the center of the pot, as they are when a pot is wider at the top than at the bottom.
Either method of adding soil volume does not require the plant to be removed from the pot and therefore does not cause soil and bits of root to be scattered, as the traditional method of transplanting does. A retention mechanism prevents the sections from accidentally being pulled completely apart.
These features, taken together, make the extendable flower pot especially appropriate for use indoors. The expandable flower pot has little potential for creating mess or damaging furnishings, no empty pot needs to be stored after the plant is transplanted, and there is no danger of choosing a wrong-sized pot for transplanting.
Other features and attendant advantages of the invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description, together with the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. Certain exemplary embodiments will be described, although many modifications and variations are possible. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.